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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 20th, 2010 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Humor, Islam.
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I am going to point out that insulting the spiritual icon for 1.5+ billion people, the overwhelming majority of whom hold no grudge against America or Americans and delore the vilolence of the jihaddists, is a particularly boorish, childish and insensitive thing to do. The Chicagoboyz blog is great because of the level of intelligence and insight of the bloggers – but this is not an examply of that.

Just as I don’t want to be thrown into the same boat as the jerks from the Westeboro Baptist Church who disrupt and wreak emotional trauma on the families of our fallen military heroes because they claim to be Christians, the majority of the Muslim people do not deserve to have the person they see as God’s prophet demeaned because of the actions and attitudes of a minority of supposed Muslim believers who have grossly distorted the Koran. In fact, there are thousands of practicing Muslims in the US Armed forces currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan who deserve better than this from Chicagoboyz.

There is no prohibition in islam to draw Mohammed, in particular. There used to be a prohibition for drawing live images – animals as well as people; I’m not sure if it’s held in as strict requirement now as it was in 1400′; judging by architectural renderings presented for Dubai and Saudi buildings and featuring shoppers, etc – not so much.
This general prohibition is the reason for so called “islamic ornament” in their architecture: no statues or sculptural friezes of any kind, just geometric surface decoration. Medieval Persians (sufi), though, didn’t pay much attention to this even in 1500s, and left us beautiful miniature scenes of hunt, filled with royal riders and gazelles.

It is enough to just walk pass any Paki’s or Arab- owned newsstand, with all the media filled with human images, to see that this ridiculous medieval prohibition is not adhered too (and rightly so), and if it is, it’s applied to all and any images of live creatures.

This supposed prohibition to depiction of Mohammed is a fiction, Bill. It’s a pretext for inflaming fanatics, an invented reason for manifestation of muslim aggression against non-muslims.

That’s besides the obvious point that any free person should be able to draw caricature, curse or praise anything he/she sees fit. In a free and civilized society.
If 1.5 mln of muslims do not agree with that – tough. They should grow up. But I think 805 of muslims are smarter than that; they can care less about the “offensive images”.
I’m surprised to find you so susceptible to a multicultural BS, Bill.

And Robert Maplethorpe had both a legal right and an intellectual rationaization for his work too, Tatyana, and he exercised his first ammendment right to offend millions of Christians … but legal authority doesn’t make ridiculing religious icons right.

I don’t think artistic renderings of Mohhamad are inherently offensive – just the ones that portray him as an absurd cartoon with labels identifying a “funny hat”, “sinister beard” and “naughty bits”, which are nothing more than a slap to the face of people who sincerely belive he was the prophet of God.

Thinking that religious icons deserve respect does not makes me a victim of “mulicultural BS”, Tatyana – just makes me someone who thinks that religious icons are worthy of respect. I found Robert Maplethorpe highly offensive, and I would be quite the hypocrite if I did not find ridiculing Mohhamad similarly offensive, which I am not.

I am going to point out that insulting the spiritual icon for 1.5+ billion people, the overwhelming majority of whom hold no grudge against America or Americans and delore the vilolence of the jihaddists, is a particularly boorish, childish and insensitive thing to do.

I am sorry that a lot of non-extremist Muslims got caught in the cross fire but thats just the way these things work. You can’t let extremist use innocent people as human shields even metaphorically.

Just as I don’t want to be thrown into the same boat as the jerks from the Westeboro Baptist Church…

And yet your rather routinely are. Ask any leftists, especially in Europe. If people don’t like you, they latch onto extremist who superficially resemble you to smear you. Life sucks. It’s not fair. Boo hoo.

The simple truth of the matter is that failing to respond to threats empowers the extremist within the Muslim community. Many Muslims feel powerless and low-status. When they see the extremist stampeding non-Muslisms with threats, it makes the extremist seem more appealing even if non-extremist don’t explicit support the use of violence. You start hearing defenses like, “I don’t agree with their use of violence but at least somebody is doing something.”

As an atheist I don’t have a dog in the religious fight. I have always been respectful of Muslims and all other religious and cultural groups. In fact, I have always gone out of my way to be accommodating to people’s religious beliefs. I have known about the Islamic prohibition against pictures and idolatry since my spouse was a middle-eastern studies major in college. (It also plays a big role in Islamic and Spanish architecture as well as explaining a big part of why science stalled in Islamic cultures.) For 25 years I have known I could insult Muslims with a cartoon and I never did so out of respect I accord to everyone’s religious beliefs.

However, when the extremist threatened me with violence and demanded that I bow down to them and cravenly surrender my basic human right of free speech, I was forced to respond.

So, Bill – did you threaten Robert Maplethorpe, his publishers, any blog that reprint his images, museums, galleries and private individuals a torturous death? Did you follow him wherever he goes, armed to the teeth? Did you force him to employed bodyguards at all times and to never reveal where he’s going to stay another night? Did you kill him in the street? Or sent money to those who will? Or, most importantly, launched an international blackmail campaign?

No – because you’re an adult who knows a jerk when he sees one. Most likely, you called him names, shrugged your shoulders and put him and his photos out of your mind.

As I said – this is not a mob rule and a bar fight. There are laws, in civilized society. It is not unlawful to be a racist, or anti-muslim, or anti-religionist altogether. If you don’t like to be associated with people like that – you have the right. And they (us) have a right to publicly proclaim their views.

You misunderstood me, Bill: I didn’t mean for you to go away (especially since I am guest here myself – this is not my blog).

I only meant you have a choice when faced with someone whose views you don’t like – to continue a conversation but “respectfully disagree”, to “disassociate” yourself, as you said, or threaten (or engage in) violence. Muslims invariably choose 3rd way – and by excusing them you are enabling this uncivilized behavior.